The Nashik police have decided to ban the entry of pilgrims on the entire Shahi Marg — the route of sadhus — on the last holy dip of the kumbh mela in Nashik on Monday. It was on this Shahi Marg that the stampede had taken place at Sardar Chowk on August 27 claiming 33 lives. A meeting on Saturday decided that pilgrims would not be allowed on the Shahi Marg even after sadhus conclude their rituals and return to sadhugram. This might cause further problems as millions of pilgrims are expected to take the holy dip on September 1. The only other holy dip of the current mela would be at Trimbakeshwar on September 7. In the past two holy dips in Ramkund (on August 17 and August 27) the Shahi Marg used to be exclusively reserved for sadhus till they returned to sadhugram. Afterwards, the Shahi Marg used to be opened for pilgrims. Meanwhile, the Kumbh stampede has thrown up some vital questions that remain unanswered. The fact is that the administrative machinery has been focusing on the sadhus and their holy dip. While the Shahi Marg, with separate entry and exit points, was created exclusively for the sadhus, no such arrangement was made for pilgrims. It is on the Shahi Marg that the stampede occurred when it was thrown open to general public after the sadhus were through. That day, the official machinery indiscreetly opened the barricades from all sides. Allowing the people in in batches would have avoided overcrowding. The question is how a procession of sadhus and pilgrims ended up on the same road? The Shahi Marg is a ‘‘No vehicle zone’’ once the sadhus return after the holy dip. If some sadhus were travelling in a vehicle showering silver coins, who allowed their vehicle to ply on the road? Another mystery is, if the sadhus were present on the road in vehicles, where did they disappear after the mishap? Top police officials and many VIP guests, including Home Minister Kripa Shankar Singh, were in Nashik on the day of the disaster. Was the attention of the police machinery so focussed on the security of VIPs that they ignored other areas? Was the delay of about two hours in opening Ramkund crucial in making pilgrims impatient for the holy plunge? Interestingly, the sadhus had refused to use a new Shahi Marg that was created for them at the cost of Rs 5 crore, on the grounds that it passed by a crematorium. It seems the focus of the officials was to appease sadhus. Moreover, no thought was given to the fact that most of the pilgrims were non-Marathi speaking people from the northern states. There were no maps and signboards. In fact even the instructions, including information on missing people, were given on loudspeakers in Marathi.
